Hearts offer manager’s job to John McGlynn

JOHN McGlynn has been offered the job of Hearts manager and is expected to let the Tynecastle club know his response either today or tomorrow.

Rumours swept Edinburgh last night that McGlynn’s appointment would be confirmed before the day was out but, in fact, it was only yesterday that the 50-year-old Raith Rovers boss was formally offered a contract.

It was agreed that he should take a day or two to assess the terms and conditions of the offer before telling Hearts whether he wanted the job, which became vacant earlier this month when Paulo Sergio failed to agree a renewal of his contract.

Given McGlynn’s long association with Hearts and his declaration that it was “an honour” to be linked with the vacancy, his acceptance is expected to be a formality. The size of salary on offer was a sticking point for Sergio, who had continued to be paid by former employers Sporting Lisbon during his only season at the capital club, but, for Musselburgh-born McGlynn, an offer which is modest by Hearts’ recent standards will still represent an increase on what he has been paid at Stark’s Park.

Last night, however, Hearts sources warned they were taking nothing for granted, and said they would not make concrete arrangements for any ceremonial unveiling until the deal had been completed. Having been identified as the club’s first choice, McGlynn will have some leeway for negotiating the terms of the deal should he choose.

Given his current position with a First Division club, McGlynn will inevitably be viewed by some as a cheap option and it is certainly true that he will cost considerably less than Sergio. But McGlynn’s appointment, besides being considerably less costly than that of his predecessor, makes sense in footballing terms as well as financial.

Having first worked with Hearts under Jim Jefferies in the mid-1990s and served two spells as caretaker manager around a decade later, McGlynn knows the set-up at Tynecastle and Riccarton very well. He also has a good working knowledge of many of the playing squad, having had some on loan at Raith.

McGlynn was in caretaker charge at Hearts briefly in 2005 along with then club captain Steven Pressley after John Robertson was sacked during the early days of Vladimir Romanov’s involvement at Tynecastle, and then again later that year after the club parted company with George Burley.